


Battleground

by myth_taken



Series: Denial 101 [8]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 16:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8585260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myth_taken/pseuds/myth_taken
Summary: The big, apocalyptic battle happens and is won, leaving certain Slayers with far too much energy...





	

**Author's Note:**

> set in my denial 101 verse where tara isn't dead and fred got brought back to sunnydale with faith... i think that's the main relevant information. kennedy is everyone's gossip friend in this verse instead of willow's girlfriend

The early-morning hours before the battle, hours when everyone was either awake already or had never slept, were deadly. They were simultaneously a scramble and a slog, with people running around trying to find last-minute weapons for want of something to do with their time, and everyone knew that they were really only counting down the hours to their deaths.

Downstairs was where the Potentials were running amok, some of them crying, some of them panicking, all of them afraid. Upstairs was where the real preparation took place; Faith, Spike, and Buffy were cataloguing weapons; Tara, Willow, and Fred had control of spellbooks; Xander, Dawn, and Giles were in charge of Potentials and strategy; Anya was in charge of floating between groups, making sure everyone knew just how crazy they were for being involved at all until Buffy told her to stop scaring the Potentials any more than necessary.

The battle itself could be summed up in one word: long. There was whirling and stabbing and hitting and killing, and not all of it was in favor of the humans, but they had to keep trying, and keep trying, and keep trying. Faith and Buffy fought side by side, and Anya defended from an army of imaginary bunnies, and Vi, Rona, and Amanda were a blazing trio of power.

Willow, Tara, Fred, and Kennedy experienced none of this. They sat in a side room, worrying; Willow was the power, Tara was the knowledge, and Fred was the stabilizer, and Kennedy was there so that they’d know if the spell had gone right. It took far too long to set up, and then it took far too long to cast. Willow’s hair turned white, and Fred and Tara both gasped at the ethereal energy she was giving off; Tara chanted perfectly, never breaking rhythm, and Fred gripped both of their hands as hard as she could, trying so, so hard to keep them from slipping away into some other realm. She had heard stories about demon realms, and she had spent too much time in one herself; she didn’t want Willow or Tara to get sucked into anywhere bad.

They didn’t. Willow’s hair didn’t turn back right away, but Fred could tell when she had returned to Earth, blinking in confusion, and Tara’s chant ended, and everything was done. Fred loosened her hold on the others’ hands, and Kennedy stood up.

“I feel good,” she said, marveling at her own muscles. “I feel strong. I feel _powerful_.” She took up the scythe and sprinted out of the room.

On the battlefield, the new Slayers were suddenly hitting with stronger blows. Their stakes were thrust farther, harder, and more powerfully, and they were able to fight off multiple enemies at once. A lot of them were overwhelmed, but that was overtaken by their strength and sudden intuition of how exactly to fight.

Soon, it was all over, at some cost to Spike. Buffy had cried, of course, but no one else had been all that sad, and, anyway, they all knew that a death in their world tended not to last long.

Pretty soon, all the girls were loaded on the bus again, this time speeding away from Sunnydale as fast as possible. The wounded were laid across seats, but most of the girls sat two or three to a seat. The first order of business, after staring at the newly formed canyon they had left behind, was to find a hospital for everyone who was hurt; the second, to find a hotel.

As tired girls piled into a lobby, Kennedy took over with the front desk. The concierges looked surprised when she said, “We’re going to need about five rooms for tonight,” but no one questioned it, especially when she took out her credit card. When she realized that everyone was staring at her, she turned around and said, “What? Rich girl from New York, remember? You’ve all saved my life at one time or another. It’s only fair.” Then she turned back to the concierges. “Sorry. Rough night for everyone.”

Soon, everyone was shoving themselves into a room. The new Slayers were all still recovering from the battle, not to mention grieving for their dead compatriots; Fred, Willow, and Tara were all half-asleep the instant they walked into their room, stopping only to take off their shoes before all dropping in a heap on one of the beds; and Faith and Buffy were too wired from the biggest Slaying of their lives.

“I just keep thinking about it being gone,” Buffy said, pacing up and down the hotel room floor. “Sunnydale is gone. I mean, I died for that place. Twice.”

Faith laughed from her spot on one of the beds. “See, B, that’s why you can’t get too attached to places. You get attached, and then it turns out that they’re gone. You gotta learn that early.”

“Sunnydale was doing a good job of not being gone, though,” Buffy said. “I was doing well with Sunnydale.”

“Yeah, well, everyone evacuated, and you saved the world, so it’s all five by five,” Faith said, leaning back on the pillows. “It’s all good now. And, hey, we just have to haul ass to Cleveland, and we’ve even got vampires to slay.”

Buffy sat on the end of Faith’s bed. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just— I kind of liked Sunnydale, you know? Even with all the vampires and apocalypses. It was just kind of a nice town.”

“Yeah, well, nothing lasts forever,” Faith shrugged. “Least of all a place like Sunnydale. I mean, it’s a miracle that town even lasted as long as it did, what with all the evil and the like.”

Buffy nodded. “It’s hard, I guess. That’s all.” She shivered. “And I know I should go talk to Dawn, too, and make sure she’s okay, but I just, I just can’t right now, you know?”

“Hey.” Faith sat up and moved closer to Buffy. “It’s okay. You’ll talk to Dawn tomorrow. She’ll have to understand. I mean, after all you’ve been through?”

Buffy curled herself closer. “I know. I know.” She looked up at Faith, and Faith looked back, her eyes reflecting all of the pain and heartbreak that Buffy felt. She couldn’t say anything more, and in that moment, she knew she didn’t have to.

When their lips crashed together, it felt inevitable, like something that had been begging to happen ever since Faith first asked, “Isn’t it crazy how Slaying makes you hungry and horny?” It was true: they had just been through the biggest Slaying of their lives, and Buffy was craving a lot more than a non-fat yogurt. It was only right that she and Faith, the first Slayers, the oldest Slayers, the chosen two, would come together after all that, even if Buffy wasn’t gay, or hadn’t known she was gay, or whatever. The conversation would come later; for now, there was only the movement of two bodies against each other, kissing, reaching, grasping, until their naked bodies laid entangled atop the covers of the hotel bed.

Buffy knew that Faith didn’t really do the whole cuddling thing, but she pulled herself closer anyway, and she was surprised when Faith flipped onto her side and held her back. Eventually, Buffy was vaguely aware that she had brought the covers up over them, and soon enough, she had drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, Buffy was shocked by the feeling of skin against skin. She had forgotten that she had fallen asleep with Faith, and she was even more surprised that Faith had stayed with her. She didn’t feel the need to extricate herself any time soon, but then she heard knocking on the door, so she felt that she had to.

She wasted no time in finding her clothes, which had been well and truly flung across the room, before opening the door to an irate Dawn.

“Where have you been? It’s ten AM, and all the girls are getting antsy.” Dawn peeked further inside. Buffy tried her hardest to block Dawn’s view, but the hallway between the door and the beds wasn’t really that long, and there was more than enough room for Dawn to see Faith’s sleeping form (and the bare shoulders thereof) and clothes spread across the room. “Okay, no way. You guys did not—“ She stopped when she saw the look on Buffy’s face. “Sorry, it’s just that I owe Kennedy ten dollars now.”

Buffy’s face arranged itself into the picture of shock. “You placed a _bet_ on whether I’d have sex with Faith?”

Dawn blushed. “If it helps, I bet against?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Get out of here, you scamp. We’ll be out soon, okay?”

Dawn gave her sister a sarcastic salute, then disappeared from the doorway. Buffy sighed and closed the door, turning to look at Faith, still asleep.

She was beautiful asleep. Her lipstick was smudged, which was in large part Buffy’s fault, and she looked like nothing had ever hurt her. Buffy almost felt bad waking her up from whatever dream she was having, but the girls needed their leaders, and however much Buffy tried, Faith was just as much of a leader as she was.

When Buffy finally managed to shake Faith awake, Faith first looked around, trying to get her bearings, before her eyes lit on Buffy.

“I thought you were wearing less than that, B,” she said.

Buffy laughed. “I was.” She looked at Faith, mirth in her eyes. “I seem to remember it being your fault.”

“So what’s the deal with the sudden coverage?” Faith asked.

“Dawn came in,” Buffy said. “They want us downstairs. Something to do with morale or something. Also, she and Kennedy were betting on whether or not we’d have sex. I don’t suppose you know anything about that.”

Faith shook her head. “I had no part in any bet,” she said, sitting up. “But, you know, if Kennedy has any other bets, I’d be happy to fulfill those.”

“Don’t push your luck,” Buffy answered. “We’ll talk later, okay? Right now, Slayers need us.”

Faith groaned. “I think I like it better when I’ve gotta talk about my feelings.”

The Slayers really did benefit from having Buffy and Faith around to help them sort things out, and a lot of crying and a group hospital excursion later, Buffy and Faith found themselves even more exhausted, if that was possible. They sat on two armchairs in the lobby, talking things out with Willow, Xander, Fred, Kennedy, and Dawn. They had to figure out where to go next, and there was no clear way to know. The best bet was Cleveland, but that was still aggressively far away, and there was no way they were going to load twenty Slayers, three witches, and assorted others onto an airplane going _anywhere_. And they were stuck in the mundane California town until their wounded healed, anyway, so there wasn’t so much they could do.

Fred suggested going to Los Angeles and staying in Angel’s hotel, but then word had recently come that Angel had bought into one of the biggest, most evil companies in all of the worlds, and Buffy ruled that out. Xander asked why they couldn’t just do a road trip, but they really couldn’t even do that with the resources they had. In the end, they decided that they’d stick around in this hotel until their people were healed, and then perhaps they would be up for some greater form of road tripping.

After a while, Buffy realized that it was seven in the evening, and she hadn’t even eaten breakfast. She asked who wanted to join her in the hotel restaurant, but most of the others had been smart enough to eat already; it had only been herself and Faith, who had missed breakfast due to relaxation and lunch and dinner due to the exact opposite of that. So they were led to a table in the relatively empty restaurant, where they perused the menu, at least in part to avoid talking about what had transpired the night before.

Finally, though, a bored waitress took their orders, and they couldn’t hide behind their menus anymore.

“So, B,” Faith said. “You been taken in by the thrall of lesbianism yet?”

Buffy laughed. “Not sure yet, _F._ You been taken in by the thrall of my incredibly cute hair yet?”

“Years ago, B,” Faith answered. She toyed with her fork. “You know when I met you, and I’d heard all these stories, right, about Buffy Summers, the Slayer who’s died, the Slayer who’s done everything, and I didn’t believe it until I saw you for real, and I realized that if anyone could do all that, it was almost certainly you.”

“Is that why you let me cuddle you?” Buffy asked.

Faith laughed. “Nah. That came later.” She shrugged. “Eventually I kind of realized, you know, it’s not the worst thing in the world to let someone get close.”

Buffy chose her words very carefully, lest she somehow ruin whatever thing she and Faith had created. “Well, I am honored to be someone that you’ve chosen.”

“What about you?” Faith asked. “You didn’t answer my question. Been bitten by the lesbian bug? I hear it’s catching.”

“I don’t think the lesbian bug catches,” Buffy answered. “And, no, I don’t think so. I mean, I like you, but I also liked a bunch of men, so that’s not exactly criteria for lesbianism, you know?” At the crestfallen look on Faith’s face, she rushed on. “But, I mean, I don’t think liking the men means I can’t like women, too. I’m still figuring it out.”

The waitress came back carrying their food, which Buffy wasted no time in beginning to eat. It was mediocre food at best, but that was about what one could expect in a weird small-town hotel such as this was.

“Well,” Faith said, picking up her fork, “I sure hope you wind up figuring it out in my favor.”

“I think you might be in a certain amount of luck there,” Buffy said. She looked down at her plate. “I might as well call you my girlfriend, really.”

When she looked up, the massive grin on Faith’s face was brighter than anything she’d ever seen.


End file.
